I guess that my favourite travel experience was going to Perth in Australia. I have family out there and got to meet cousins which I had never seen before as well as their children and families. To me that was better than actually seeing the country, which was very interesting as well. We were in Perth which was pretty and fun and we visited the gold mining area, explored the bush, old fashioned towns, the city centre and parks as well as other towns in the area and had lots of fun even though it was winter time and raining a lot!

My brother in law was hoping to extend his house but it seems like he has been turned down for the loan. I think that he wanted to increase his mortgage to pay for it, but the bank are not so happy to lend him more money. He easily extended it when he converted his loft and his income is higher than it was then but I think that with the lending problems that banks are having, they are being tighter with their money. I am not sure where he is going to find the money from now, but I am sure he will find a way some how.

I have been having great fun this year. It may not sound like fun to some people but I have been managing to find a lot more freelance work and so have really been increasing my income. This means that I have been able to pay big chunks off the money that I owe. It is a really nice feeling knowing that you are reducing your debts and calculating how long you have until you will be debt free. I guess not everyone worries about being in debt like me but I feel it hanging over my head and also see the interest payments as an expense that I would rather be without.

I am looking forward to next week as I am going to the seaside. As a child, I loved day trips to the seaside where I could spend all day making sand castles. As a grown up, I am not so keen on getting all wet and sandy, but I do love watching my children having fun on the beach. They seem to enjoy making sand castles as much as I used to, as well as digging big holes in the sand and building big sand structures. I am sure Daddy will have great fun too and I might even be able to leave them for a while and have a bit of girly shopping time in the town!